I of the Storm

November 2017

 

     Finding words to convey my internal experience can be extremely challenging for me. When my mind gets stirred up, I often close off the outside world and venture inside myself while everything else swirls around me. In this way, my mind is much like a storm. On one hand, it can be turbulent and unpredictable, and on the other, it can be eerily calm; much like the eye of the storm.

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     Although the center of a storm may feel calm, the reality is far from it. As one ventures further from the center, the more turbulent things become. Throwing on the wheel is no different, the middlemost clay moves the least and the outermost moves the most. 

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     Pottery gives me the space in which to bridge this gap and center myself to find the calm in the chaos. I’m able to both be within myself and outside while creating something visible to others. In these instances of unrest, using the wheel centers me and gives me focus despite the chaos occurring in the periphery. In this calm, pottery helps spur things along.